I recently stayed in Budapest for a few days - one of the most hyped cities in Europe.
You probably have seen pictures of the giant parliament building or might have heard of the thermal spring baths in Hungary (Budapest has about 10% of them). Question is: Is it worth seeing?
Let’s start from the beginning.
How to get from the airport to the city center:
To get from A to B is probably one of the most forward and easiest ways in Europe! Take bus # 100E (or alternatively 200E) from the terminal which will bring you right to Astoria M (That’s one of the metro stations in the city). The bus leaves every 10 minutes even on Sundays, take about 30 minutes and costs 2,500 Ft (= 6,50€). From there you can either walk to your accommodation or switch to the next metro, trolley or bus.
As tourist the easiest way to get public transport tickets is to purchase them by machine/ by the bus driver with credit card directly or using the BudapestGo app. I personally preferred the later as I usually took the single ticket option.
Ticket options are fairly simply. For a short stay those are the most important ones:
- Single ticket (500 Ft = 1,30€) = for a one-way trip; you can switch trains as long as the direction is the same
- 30 or 90 minute ticket (600 Ft or 800 Ft = 1,.. or 2,20€) = can be used as much as you want within that time frame including to go to a site and back
- 24h ticket (=8,20€) = travel as much as you like within 24h (but the airport bus is NOT included in this)
- Airport shuttle ticket (2,500 Ft =6,50€) = one-way ticket to or from the airport but it does NOT cover any other public transport in the city.
What to see in Budapest
This will of course depend on your personal preference and how much time you spend in the city but I can recommend the following:
- Buda Castle
- Parlament Building (especially when the lights turn on in the evening!)
- Széchenyi Chain Bridge (again: go there once it gets dark as it is much prettier!)
- St. Stephen's Basilica (that's where the Christmas market is in December if you plan to go there during that time)
- Shoes on the Danube Bank (which represent people who were killed there during WW II)
- Medieval Dominican Convent and Royal Mansion
- Heroes' Square (an UNESCO Heritage Site)
- Central Market Hall (and its surroundings)
- Gellért Hill Cave
I personally thought that a few sight-seeings were definitely overrated such as the Thermal Baths (super crowded!!) or the Fisherman's Bastion (the sight itself is nice and I recommend seeing it since you will most likely be in the area BUT it’s not worth to pay the entry fee for the view you can have by the castle too).
What to eat in Budapest
Most blogs (and quite friendly videos) I have seen of “must try” food items included Lagos & chimney cake. While I agree that they are part of the Hungarian culture, I actually had better Lagos outside the country than in Budapest. This might be controversial but I would recommend skipping it. Rather go for Goulash or if you’re vegetarian like me Lecsó which is alike to Ratatouille.
The Chimney Cakes are great but (and this might be inflation based while I’m writing this in December 2025) they are fairly expensive. In the city center (where most tourists will be), a single one will cost around 3,00 Ft (=7,80€) per cake without filling - if you buy them at a Christmas market it will rather be more (around 10€). Still - I like Chimney Cakes and would get it again. Just plan for it if you’re short on your budget.
The place we went to that I liked actually wasn’t Hungarian cuisine but rather Mediterranean instead. It’s called Mozata and it’s just a short walk away from the St. Stephen's Basilica you will visit during your stay anyways.
The places we went to I thought were ooookay but definitely lacked flavor were:
> Séf Asztala - It felt more like a cafeteria and the Lagos there were super plain yet due to their location by the Parliament the prices were very high for what you got. This place has lots of good reviews & plenty of locals but I honestly don't understand why.
> Olive Persian Restaurant - Since we arrived late and this was in the area and still open, we wanted to try it but got massively disappointed. They only served pizzas which is far away from what you expect when you go to a Persian restaurant. The food was lacking seasoning and for the size of the pizza, you paid more than I would have normally.
Where I stayed
We booked the The Urban Jungle on Booking.com which is a loft apartment close to the city center.
While the location is super convenient as you can walk to the city center in 20 minutes or take the metro or bus for 5 minutes, I unfortunately cannot recommend it as the sleeping experience itself wasn’t as pleasant as I hoped.
Is Budapest worth a visit?
Besides all the negative experiences I experienced, I still think it’s worth the visit. Budapest is a pretty city and has things to offer however if you have been to Prague or Vienna before and loved those, you might feel the same way as I did. It's nice but it's not worth the hype.
Travel Budget Breakdown
To give you a sense of how much you should budget for a 3-day trip in Budapest, I broke down my spending while visiting.
Bare in mind that the accommodation cost is divided by two and we walked most of the time. We also didn't like any of the offered tours and I was very picky with souvenirs as they were all the same (literally all the shops have the same items!!) but only a few were interesting for me.
Depending on your bank, you will have to consider that you will have conversion fees which for me were just a small amount however if you stay longer/ spend more, consider withdrawing money from an ATM (there are loads in the city center) as one-time fees are usually easier to handle.
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